It seems like soooooo many articles/emails/ebooks/Facebook videos are titled something along the lines of: “blank” is dead. Or “Why the new ios update is going to kill email marketing.” Or “3 stats that prove print and mail is dead.” But it is? For the most part those titles are just clickbait, and the content just proves how it is very much not dead.

So, let’s take the three most common “dead” or “dying” marketing channels and see how effective they really are.

Email Marketing

I probably get an email once a week proclaiming the end of email marketing.  How can email marketing be “dead?” Statista estimates that close to 320 BILLON emails will be sent every day in 2021. On average, office workers receive 127 every day. And a Forbes article from last year suggested that “every person needs at least four email accounts” for security reasons. However, quantity of emails is one reason some say that email marketing is losing its effectiveness as a marketing channel. Is that true?

Email is often one of the main touch points a brand has with a consumer and many younger consumers prefer to communicate with brands with email. Even email that’s clearly from a mailing list still feels like a direct conversation. Which contributes to email’s engagement rates. Across industry’s email average click-through-rate is 3.71 and the average open rate is 22.9. Although that may not seem like a lot, Facebook, Instagram, and twitters combined average engagement is only 0.58.  

Part of the reason email gets better engagement rates is because with email, the message is directly reaching who it’s intended for.

Print and Mail

The death of print and mail has been predicted since the beginning of email. Probably even before then. One of the very first articles in our Weekly Vibe newsletter was called “Print’s Not Dead, Right?” It wasn’t in March 2020, and it defiantly isn’t now.

Direct mail average open rate is somewhere between 68 and 90%, which is double, triple, or quadruple the average open rates of other marketing channels. Do people who open direct mail actually purchase? Yes! On average people who receive direct mail purchase 28% more items and spend 28% more money!

Why is direct mail so effective? It comes down to fact that we (humans) like getting mail. 41% of Americans of all ages look forward to getting their mail every day. We still want very real things in our hands, which is something totally lost in email inboxes or on social media. That tactile connection translates into 💰.

Cold Calling

Cold calling is another one of those things that’s been “on its way out” for years! Why is sticking around? At this point, an actual person to person conversation is a novelty and stands out against digital interactions. And sales, more than anything, based on connections and communications. It’s a lot easier to ignore an email than a ringing phone. It can also be harder to say no to a real person who you can actually hear.

If you add cold calling as part of your omnichannel marketing, work on your pitch, and be prepared to fail, you may be surprised at how effective it is!

What is your favorite marketing channel or tactic that’s been “dead” for years?

Content creation is an integral part of marketing or running a business in general now. Even if you don’t think that you are a quote-on-quote content creator, you probably do create content. Every time you post on Facebook or update Instagram, that’s content. What are some easy things you can do to up your content game?

Here’s 6 things we have found to be essential in making quality content!

Know Your Audience

The content you create for one audience can be very different from another. Understanding the WHO is helpful first step.

It can also be helpful if you think of your audience as a single composite person. Instead of trying to talk to all of them, you are instead making content for one person. A lot of companies do this by making a buyer persona. That way you can think, “Would my buyer persona like this?” vs. “Would all my followers enjoy this content?”

Make a Plan

There is nothing more overwhelming than trying to maintain consistent content posting across multiple channels without a plan. It can feel like juggling snakes. 🐍 Making a plan can be as simple as figuring out what types of content you want to post and when it would be best to time to post it. The more specific your plan is the more you time you take out of the equation.

Part of making a plan is planning out your message and/or your angle. Now that you know who your audience is, think about what type of content would work best for them. Knowing what you want to talk about can make it easier to figure out what types of content would be best. Would your audience benefit from long form blog articles or would a TikTok series be more helpful? Both of those types of content take a lot of effort, so planning it out ahead of time is valuable!

Keep It Simple and Honest

Don’t make it harder than it needs to be. No matter who your audience is, needlessly complicated language or content structure isn’t appreciated. Simple and honest is always good. Remember, why you are making the content. Is it to promote you or your brand? Then tone of the content should match your voice. People can see right through any inauthenticity if you are trying to make something that isn’t you.

It’s easier to connect with a brand online if you feel like you are talking to a real person. Does the content you are making sound personal?

What is the Purpose of Your Content?

Why do you want to make this content? Keep the big picture of your content in mind as well as each individual piece. Are you trying to promote a specific product or service? Don’t be afraid to include a call to action in your content! A call to action is how to accomplish the goal of your content. It’s the follow through.

A good call to action is simple and concise. It uses strong verbiage. Give your audience a good reason to take the desired action. Don’t be afraid to get creative!

Take a Step Back

When it comes to content, it’s often valuable to take a step back and from your project and let it rest for a bit. The longer you work on a piece of content the easier it is to be become blind to mistakes, errors, and typos. You may be surprised by the power of fresh eyes!

An old copy writer trick is to proofread backwards. Instead of starting at the beginning of your content: start at the end. Because your brain is following a different path through the information, it sees things in a different way. Starting at the end allows you to look at it sentence by sentence instead of word by word or thought by thought. Knowing your content is edited well will help you feel more confident in posting it.

Another aspect of taking a step back from your content is revisiting old content. Repurposing or adapting finished content is an excellent way to stay inspired and make more content. There are always new things that can be added. Adding information keeps your messages up to date. Up-to-date content is more accurate and provides for value to your followers. Another reason to recycle content is that it gives more people an opportunity to see it. And even if someone has been following you for a long time there’s a good chance that they didn’t see the content the first time around.

Keep Consuming Content

This is my favorite part. 😜 One of the best ways to keep your own content sharp is to consume other content. It can inspire you, help you stay up to date with current trends, and keep your skill sharp. Most ideas don’t start in our heads, the spark is external. All of the creative juices it takes to create content can easily be burnt out if you don’t feed it with creative thing that you care about. Change your scenery, have conversations, read books or articles, watch a movie or show. Diversity of other creative inputs will refill your own creativity!

What’s your favorite type of content to create? How do you stay motivated in content creation?  

Who doesn’t love getting something new? We are super excited to launch the redesign of some elements within our National List Counts site.

The main landing page got a major facelift! The new Tiled View separates the databases into tiles, replacing the List View. The Tiled View helps navigation and quick list selection.

The buttons were replaced with easy to use icons.

Here is a quick guide:   

New Look!
The New Tiled View helps navigation and quick list selection.

Want the quick details on a database?
To see full details of a database, click on the quick detail button for a quick, focused, description of that database.

Need even more details on a database?
To see full information about the database, click on the full description button for in-depth database details.

Want detailed database pricing details?
To view a specific database’s pricing structure, click on the price button.

When was this last updated?
This is a common and important question that you can quickly find the answer to by clicking on the last update button.

Ready to start your search?
To start a search or open a group of databases, click anywhere on the tile or use the start here button.

Along with the above changes, you will also notice some other slight cosmetic improvements, such as:
1. Updated menu items
2. Updated form layouts
3. And many other small improvements!

In past months, we added to National List Counts–www.nationalalistcounts.com–a few exciting, new capabilities that will allow users better define count universes, enhance the user experience, specify and secure order outputs. 

The Release includes:

·         Asynchronous Count Requests

·         Upload Codes

·         Custom Layout

·         DriveTime Radius

·         Order File Encryption

·         Merge Count Feature Improvements

Asynchronous Count Requests

Using National List Counts, you can now submit asynchronous count requests that allow you to add complex use cases into your application without impacting user workflow and user experience. Previously, in the case of complex use cases, users had to wait for the count result to return without being able to perform other tasks.

Upload Codes

This feature allows to define a count structure in a text document and push it to National List Counts. The main advantage of this feature uploading millions of codes in the archived simple structure for unlimited use in future counts. That opens up the ability to operate on the level of ZIPs, ZIPCRRT, ZIP9 codes or even record IDs to deal with an exactly defined universe.

Custom Layout

National List Counts now allows you to fine tune a Custom Layout for any placed order that leads to data delivery to a client. Previously, the ability to manipulate with the layout in National List Count’s orders was limited and required special setup for each predefined layout.

DriveTime Radius

DriveTime further extends the Radius feature and allows you to get the closest records to a location based on travel time.

Order File Encryption

 This feature allows you to encrypt your order file with your own key to ensure another layer of data security.

Merge Count Feature Improvements

The National List Count’s Merge Count feature was further enhanced to provide more flexibility. It includes an option to request faster counts without providing a breakdown by parts. It also supports optional breakdowns by any allowed selection similar to regular counts and provides the ability to operate with Query Builder counts as parts of a Merge count.

These features are released as a free enhancement and will be available to all users!

Contact us for more information or for help getting started.